Tense, aspect &
mood
TENSE
-The tense system deals with the location in time of a situation.
-Englihs tense can be divided into:
-Primary tense
• It marks tense distinction by menas of INFLECTION (Preterite vs. Present tense)
e.g. I live in Barcelona vs. I lived in Barcelona
-Secondary tense
• It marks tense distinction by means of an auxiliary (Perfect vs. Non-perfect) e.g.
They have flown to Paris vs. They flew to Paris yesterday
SECONDARY TENSE: PERFECT VS. NON-PERFECT
-Secondary tense system distinguishes perfect vs. non-perfect
Perfect Non-perfect
She has been ill She is ill
She had left town She left town
She is said to have spoken fluent Greek She is said to speak fluent Greek
-Perfect: it’s a past tense marked my means of the auxiliary have
-Compound secondary tense:
-Present perfect: the auxiliary have inflects for primary tense by means of a
present form.
-Preterite perfect: the auxiliary have infects for a primary tense by means of the
preterite form.
The perfect in clauses without primary tense
-The auxiliary have is a secondary form
-Use: in non-finite clauses, where past tense cannot be marked by means of
inflection, the perfect is used to locate the situation in past time.
-Having finished the report, I left home.
